Ideas In Action

Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, long a pioneer in early childhood studies, will launch the Vanderbilt Early Childhood Research Collaborative on March 27, uniting more than 40 faculty members across Vanderbilt University to advance early childhood research and translate findings for families, educators and communities.   The ECRC serves as a hub where… Read More

The Academic Senate at the University of California, Berkeley, created the Clark Kerr Award in 1968 to honor extraordinary contributions to the advancement of higher education. Past recipients include former Supreme Court Justice and California Governor Earl Warren, Carnegie Corporation President Vartan Gregorian, former Harvard President Derek Bok, former… Read More

Education Leadership and Policy reunion attendees (February 26-28, 2026) Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development welcomed alumni of the K-12 and Higher Education Leadership and Policy doctorate of education programs for reunion from February 26 to 28. One hundred five alumni attended, along with current students… Read More

The American Educational Research Association has named Vanderbilt University’s Laurie Cutting, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Special Education, a 2026 AERA Fellow, an honor recognizing the nation’s top researchers in education and learning. She and the class… Read More

By Jenna Somers In February, Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development welcomed two distinguished Japanese scholars as part of Vanderbilt’s Global Scholars in Residence program. Emmanuel Manalo, a professor of educational psychology at Kyoto University, and Yuri Uesaka, an associate professor of psychology at the University of… Read More

By Jenna Somers In February, faculty members from Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development participated in the National Conference on Education, presented by AASA, the School Superintendents Association, held in Nashville, Tennessee. This annual conference brings together district leaders from across the country to engage with leading… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich In several Tennessee high school classrooms, computer science students are stepping away from their screens. Instead, as part of a learning tool Vanderbilt University researchers are developing, the teens are actively moving around their environments, enacting algorithms and processes, asking questions and collaborating on solutions. It’s not… Read More

Velma McBride Murry (Vanderbilt University) Velma McBride Murry, has been selected to receive the APA Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology from the American Psychological Association. Murry is the Lois Autrey Betts Professor of Education and Human Development and University Distinguished Professor of Human and Organizational Development… Read More

In November, faculty members from Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, for the culminating event of the STEMpowered learning and development series, an 18-month collaboration between Peabody College and Sukkur IBA University to strengthen STEM education in Pakistan, with support from Beyond… Read More

Key Takeaways: Vanderbilt is launching four new online master of education programs in Applied Behavior Analysis, Educational Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness, Innovative Design and Technology in Education, and Multilingual Education Graduates of these programs will be competitive for in-demand roles across a range of educational… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich Toddlerhood is a critical window for developmental interventions. But up to 75 percent of children born with cleft lip or palate don’t receive the speech-language support they may need until grade school. This lag puts them at risk of challenges with communication, social… Read More

In 2021, Kathleen Seabolt, executive director, Vanderbilt Child & Family Center , founded the Owls kindergarten as a pilot program at The Acorn School, which provides care for young children of Vanderbilt University faculty and staff. Beginning in the fall of 2026, Owls will migrate across campus to join the Susan Gray School, Vanderbilt’s inclusive pre-school that is part of Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development. Read More

Tracing policy decisions from early America to today, the reports reveal how long-standing choices continue to shape access and outcomes for families. Press Contact: Sydne Lewis, 615-343-9946, sydne.lewis@vanderbilt.edu The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at Vanderbilt University published the first installment in a series of reports, Social Policy… Read More

By Jenna Somers Dean Camilla P. Benbow David Lubinski (Vanderbilt) Camilla Benbow and David Lubinski have won the Dunnette Prize from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), for their scholarship on talent identification and talent… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich and Krystal Schmidt On a rainy November afternoon in a North Nashville classroom, students who once struggled in math periodically shouted out “zearned it,” receiving stickers or candy from their teacher as they hit milestones in the math program of the same name.  Sherrilyn Dovi,… Read More

Three Metro Nashville Public Schools students from the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt’s (SSMV) senior class have been named as Top 300 Scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2026 competition. This competition recognizes and empowers the nation’s most promising young scientists who are creating ideas and solutions… Read More

Education Week has released the 2026 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, an annual list of education researchers who have demonstrated the greatest influence over educational policy and practice. Four researchers from Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development are among the 200 who made the rankings. That places them in the top… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich On a gray, blustery December day in Nashville, students piled coats and bags into the corner of a bright, windowed classroom inside Vanderbilt Peabody College’s Six Magnolia Circle. Lively chatter, applause and words of support bounced around the room, and holiday cookies lined a table by… Read More

Warren Lowell (Vanderbilt University) Warren Lowell joined the faculty at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development as an assistant professor in fall 2025. He is an urban sociologist, population scientist and public policy scholar whose work focuses on housing, internal migration and child well-being. He studies… Read More